Home › The Beach: Miramar to Butterfly Beach
What the ember-resistant zone rules mean here, under the actual designation and the district's actual programs.
The local snapshot
Ocean-side of Highway 101, the coastal cluster runs from the Miramar and Fernald Point past Hammond's and Edgecliff to Butterfly Beach. This page is framed honestly, per the site's standing rule against overstating designations: this lower-elevation coastal band is not confirmed Very High the way the foothill and canyon areas are, and we won't claim a tier the district's own zone map doesn't confirm. What the page carries instead is the real, secondary relevance the first five feet still has at the coast.
The local record
The straight version: the beach cluster's wildfire exposure is not the foothills'. The district's zone map mixes tiers across Montecito, and the ocean-side band sits at the lower end of that mix; your parcel's lookup is the definitive answer, and this site won't dramatize past it. The real relevance that remains is threefold, and the district's own guidance frames it well: a lower designation does not mean no risk. Regional fire brings smoke and, in wind events, ember transport well beyond the mapped edge; coastal households share the same evacuation network as the rest of the community when the front country burns; and the ember-resistant habits the first five feet captures, noncombustible material at the wall, hardened vents, clean gutters, are inexpensive at the coast and carry general value, including for the guest structures and beach cottages typical of these parcels. Where a coastal parcel does carry a mapped designation, check what is Required now versus Recommended now; statewide Zone 0 is Proposed — not in force.
Who enforces it
The Montecito Fire Protection District is the Authority Having Jurisdiction here: an independent special district with its own elected board, headquartered at 595 San Ysidro Road. Statewide Zone 0 is Proposed — not in force; the district's adopted specifics apply, and its hazard abatement inspections have been running since June 1, 2026. The deadlines page names what is Required now versus Proposed — not in force; the district sets local specifics, and its programs are catalogued on the assistance page. For the requirements themselves, start with the regulations guide, fences and gates, and landscaping.
Questions
Not as a cluster, as far as the district's map confirms, and this site won't claim otherwise. Individual parcels vary; the district's lookup gives the definitive answer for your address.
Local Zone 0 is Required now for new buildings and additions wherever Development Standard #2 applies. Statewide Zone 0 is Proposed — not in force. On coastal parcels without a Very High designation, the first five feet is still Recommended now, particularly for outbuildings and guest cottages.
Because the community shares one fire authority, one evacuation network, and one history, and because honest tier framing is itself useful: knowing what your parcel is not required to do is as valuable as knowing what it is.
Submit your address and we will follow up about which local rules apply to your parcel, what your fire authority will look for, and what an inspection would document.
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